Heavy funk from Speedometer – a UK power-combo who've really grown their sound over the years! This one's the group's first full-length effort, and it's a really kickin little record with even more to offer than their great 45s! The group's expanded their lineup to feature some great horn work, smoking Hammond, and even some occasional sock-soul vocals from The Speedettes – a female group with a really great sound – not hokey or cliched at all, but with the searing style of some of the best deep soul female groups of the funk years, like The Emotions or The Exciters in their later recordings. The sets shifts easily from vocals to instrumentals – staying funky all the time, but nicely changing up the mode of the tunes. Titles include "What Am I Gonna Do", "Monkey Stick", "Wait Up", "It's Our Turn", "You Know You Can", "Mullet", "Growbag", and "Episode In Palmetto". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky grooves, psychedelic sitar, and mod Hammond organ – a magnificent blend that's every bit as dynamic as the image on the cover – served up as the long-awaited debut album from this cool European combo! The album's got a feel that's somewhere between 60s spy soundtracks and Brit library work – but also carries a tighter, funkier groove overall – a contemporary ear for the best funky elements of the old days, served up with production styles that continue a very classic groove! The whole thing's a real unexpected delight – a set that grabs us with the same sort of energy as the older Blow Up scene during its best years – with no kitsch, no nonsense, and a brilliant sense of sound throughout. Titles include "Bengali Corporation", "Bumblebee", "Sitarmania", "Fuzz Party", "Per La Riviera Tolonesa", "La Panthere Pop", "Jerk A La Vague", and "Moog Traffic". CD

Johnny Benavidez hits it right on the money here – serving up a set of laidback soul that feels like the classic material that would play big on the scene in East LA – music that's heartbreaking, but deep at the same time – graced with these very personal vocals from Johnny, and given just the right sort of backing from Cold Diamond & Mink! The whole thing is nice and easygoing – sweet soul, of the variety that you'd be more likely to hear from a harmony group, but with Benavidez giving a lead presence that's a bit like Joe Bataan in a similar mode – which makes for the kind of record that's perfect to put on late into the night, windows open, breeze blowing in, when you just want to kick back and turn down. Titles include "Playing The Fool", "Dedicated To You", "Somebody Cares", "Your Last Song", "Let's Get Together", "Do What You Wanna Do", "My Echo Shadow & Me", and "Tell Me That You Love Me". CD

You might know Cochemea Gastelum from his work in The Dap-Kings over the years – but this time around, the saxophonist is very much his own man – blowing a version of his instruments that often seems electrified, ala classic Varitone from the late 60s – used in these really new and compelling ways! Cochemea has occasional tribal impulses that belie his look on the cover – but all in this very focused way that never sounds too indulgent, and which instead always steps back to the soulful territory we love from Daptone Records! And yet the record's also maybe something new for the label too – looser, never straight funk or soul – as Cochemea heads up this fantastic ensemble that's very heavy on percussion, which drives the sound with a raw, rootsy vibe – while Victor Axelrod plays keyboards, and the man himself blows on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. A real killer – with titles that include "Maso Ye'Eme", "All My Relations", "Sonora", "Los Muertos", "Mescalero", "Song Of Happiness", and "Mitote". CD

If this is reality, lead us onward – as the set is a mindblowing batch of trippy psych-funk from The Heliocentrics – even more offbeat and experimental than before, in ways that make the combo the true heirs to the legacy first begun by Stark Reality! The album's definitely funky at the core, but it's also filled with loads of amazing sounds – instruments tuned weirdly, played weirdly, and produced weirdly – so that over the heavy drums, there's often lots of freaky, fuzzy bits and tripped-out sounds – in ways that make the record feel like some lost acid trip outtakes from the Westbound studios of the early 70s – or like some obscure funk band that dropped acid at Andy Warhol's loft! The packaging offers up a visual example of what your ears will be going through when you tune into the music – and titles include "Mysterious Ways", "Collateral Damage", "Black Sky", "Calabash", "Path Of The Black Sun", "Mr Owusu I Presume", "Eastern Begena", and loads of cool interlude tracks too. CD

A fantastic setting for the sublime vocals of Marcos Valle – the Brazilian singer who first rose up during the bossa years, soon expanded into mindblowing styles of his own – and has then had a few great revivals over the years! Yet this record may well give Marcos the fresh spin he really needed – while also respecting the soulful, jazzy currents of his early 70s work – set up with the kind of perfect arrangements and production that Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad have brought to this Jazz Is Dead series – but which comes out sounding completely different here, thanks to the qualities of Valle's vocals – which maybe sound more rhythmic and jazzy than we've heard in years. Incredible throughout – with titles that include "A Gente Volta Amanha", "Our Train", "Gotta Love Again", "Oi", "Isso E Que Eu Sei", "Quiera Bem", and "Nao Saia Da Praca". CD